10 'Revolutionary' Gaming Features That Already Happened 20 Years Ago

3. Wireless Controllers

Can anybody even remember a time when we had to actually get up and interact with our consoles for anything more than simply switching games around? Hell, with downloadable titles becoming increasingly popular there may come a time where we may never even have to touch our consoles again after setting them up. This has all been made possible by wireless controllers, which were first popularised by the Xbox 360 and have since become standard for all consoles. But, hang on a minute... Years before the thought of entering the console market was on the radar of any of today's major players, Atari had already created the first wireless controller. It was called the CX-42 Pro Line for the Atari 2600, and it used radio waves to allow gamers to play without having to deal with those pesky wires. Granted, an enormous battery pack and a radio wave receiver device were needed to get it to work, but the concept was there long before the technology caught up and made it viable.